Today in History 10-23

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 23, the 296th day of 2013. There are 69 days left in the year.

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 23, the 296th day of 2013. There are 69 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Oct. 23, 1983, 241 U.S. service members, most of them Marines, were killed in a suicide truck-bombing at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon; a near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 paratroopers.

On this date:

In 1864, forces led by Union Gen. Samuel R. Curtis repelled Confederate Gen. Sterling Price’s army in the Civil War Battle of Westport in Missouri.

In 1910, Blanche S. Scott became the first woman to make a public solo airplane flight, reaching an altitude of 12 feet at a park in Fort Wayne, Ind.

In 1915, tens of thousands of women marched in New York City, demanding the right to vote.

In 1941, the Walt Disney animated feature "Dumbo" premiered in New York.

In 1942, during World War II, Britain launched a major offensive against Axis forces at El Alamein (el ah-lah-MAYN’) in Egypt, resulting in an Allied victory.

In 1954, West Germany was invited to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which it did the following year.

In 1956, a student-sparked revolt against Hungary’s Communist rule began; as the revolution spread, Soviet forces started entering the country, and the uprising was put down within weeks.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon agreed to turn over White House tape recordings subpoenaed by the Watergate special prosecutor to Judge John J. Sirica.

In 1980, the resignation of Soviet Premier Alexei N. Kosygin (koh-SEE’-gihn) was announced.

In 1987, the U.S. Senate rejected, 58-42, the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork.

In 1991, Cambodia’s warring factions and representatives of 18 other nations signed a peace treaty in Paris.

In 1995, a jury in Houston convicted Yolanda Saldivar of murdering Tejano singing star Selena. (Saldivar is serving a life prison sentence.)

In 2001, The nation’s anthrax scare hit the White House with the discovery of a small concentration of spores at an offsite mail processing center. President George W. Bush announced he had authorized money for improved post office security following the deaths of two postal workers from inhalation anthrax.